Citrus juice extraction on a commercial scale can be advantageously performed with a juice extractor including upper and lower cups that move relative to one another along a reciprocal path of travel. The sides of both the upper and lower cups typically comprise fingers that support a fruit so that it can be squeezed without bursting. The fingers of the upper cup interdigitate or intermesh with those of the lower cup.
An orange or other fruit can be fed, for example, to the bottom cup by a cam-operated feeding device. The upper and lower cups are then brought together so that the respective fingers of the cup intermesh and the fruit therebetween is accordingly squeezed. Sharp, typically circular, cutters are positioned in the top and bottom cups. As the cups move relative to one another, the fruit is pressed against the cutters. The cutters cut plugs from both the top and bottom portions of the fruit as the interdigitating fingers of the two cups mesh together.
The cutting of the plug from the top portion of the fruit promotes separation of the peel from the internal portions of the fruit (i.e., juice and pulp). The plug cut from the lower portion of the fruit allows the internal portions of the fruit to be forced down into a strainer tube positioned just below the lower cup cutter. The strainer tube, in turn, is positioned within a manifold.
Such whole fruit juice extraction is disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,970,861; 5,992,311; 5,996,485; and 6,568,319, for example, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Moreover, various fruit feeding arrangements have been developed for juice extractors. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,040,864; 3,367,473; 3,499,519; 4,309,944 and 4,343,393 disclose such fruit feeding arrangements.
A typical fruit feeder includes a fruit guide assembly to guide fruit from a fruit conveyor to a multi-position fruit feeder for a fruit juice extractor. For example, the fruit guide assembly may comprise a frame to be positioned between the fruit conveyor and the multi-position fruit feeder, a vibrator removably fastened to the underside of the frame, and a fruit guide body removably fastened to the top of the frame and having an upper surface with alternating ridges and valleys therein defining a plurality of fruit lanes.
Unfortunately, access to the vibrator motor is relatively difficult with this configuration. Also, the fruit guide body was supported at only its sides or flanges, thereby resulting in cracking at these areas. A two-piece solid plastic guide body and a one piece solid fiberglass guide body have been used in the past.
A typical fruit guide assembly also included deadheads adjacent the lower end of the fruit guide body and separate from the fruit guide body. The spaces between the deadheads defined openings to permit passage therethrough of the fingers of the multi-position feeder. These deadheads were not coupled to the vibrator so that the fruit would remain more stable prior to pick-up. Unfortunately, the separate deadheads added a level of mechanical complexity to the fruit guide assembly.